FROM THIS EPISODE

Crime is down in California, but state officials don't agree about how to reduce prison overcrowding as federal courts have ordered by the end of this year. Governor Brown wants $315 million to rent new jail space. Senate Democrats say $200 million spent on rehabilitation would do the job. The rhetoric is heating up with just days left in the legislative session. We hear both sides. Also, one of education reform's most controversial figures visits our studios. We talk with Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of schools in Washington DC, about California and LA Unified.

On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, President Obama is in Russia for the G20 summit where America's threat to attack Syria has taken center stage. We hear what separates the US and Russia, including dispute about evidence of which side really has used chemical weapons and what should be done.

Michelle Rhee -- one of the nation's most controversial figures when it comes to education reform -- is in Los Angeles tonight. There's still dispute about her record as chancellor of public schools in Washington, DC, where she closed 23 schools, fired 36 principals and 241 teachers, negotiating pay raises only after teachers agreed to limit seniority protections and tenure. She stopped by the studios of KCRW this afternoon before heading for a Teacher Town Hall at the LA Central Library, one of three such events around the country planned by her group, Students First.

The US Supreme Court says California’s prisons are too crowded, and Governor Brown wants to rent beds in private prisons and out-of-state facilities. Democratic Assembly Speaker John Perez and Republicans in both legislative houses agree. But yesterday, a State Senate committee approved an alternative to reduce the inmate population by rehabilitation, including drug treatment, as well as preventive measures.